High acceptability of a smartphone application for daily symptom reporting and management during radiotherapy for prostate cancer

​Introduction: A smartphone application (Interaktor) was developed for reporting and managing symptoms associated with radiotherapy for men with prostate cancer. Intreraktor includes 14 symptoms and based on a risk assessment model; reports could generate alerts that were sent to a nurse in the clinic. In Interaktor, patients could follow their symptoms in graphs and had access to self-care advice to relieve symptoms. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of Interaktor regarding patients’ reported data, experience, and compliance when reporting symptoms during radiotherapy for locally advanced prostate cancer. Material and method: Patients scheduled for radiotherapy from two university hospitals in Sweden (n=66) reported via Interaktor symptoms daily during the treatment period and for an additional three weeks. The men were 69 years old (Md 70, range 53-82 years), and were able to report between 50-77 days. Data consisted of logged data and interviews with patients about their experiences of the technical aspects. Results and discussion: A total of 10,025 symptom reports were made by the patients, covering all symptoms. Compliance of reports was 87% (Md 92%, range 16-100%). Patient symptom reports generated 1566 alerts, of which 517 were high-priority. The alerts were primarily related to urinary symptoms, pain, and haematuria. Self-care advice was read by the majority of the patients, and some followed their symptom-development in the graphs. Overall the men described Interaktor as user-friendly and no symptoms were lacking. No insurmountable technical problems were reported but daily reporting perceived by a few as monotonous. Conclusion: Patients with locally advanced prostate cancer appreciate and have few obstacles of using the Interaktor application for every day reporting symptoms during radiotherapy. Interaktor may be beneficial for patients in reporting symptoms and nurses in the assessment of patient symptoms.